Shoe



May 10, 1938. P H, DlxN. 2,116,621

SHQE

Filed Nov`I 16. 1936 Wm/TU@ Patented May 10, 1938 UNITED i STATES PATENTorties Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J.. a corporation of NewJersey Application November 16, 1936, Serial No. 111,005

9 Claims'.

. This invention relates to improvements in shoes `and `moreparticularly in the back seamed p01- i tions of shoe uppers.

,The upper of a shoe usually comprises two quarter pieces, the rearmarginal portions of which are inturned and secured together by stitches`with their outer surfaces contacting to form` the back seam. The partsare initially assembled wrong-side out, the quarter pieces being laidone upon the other With their outer surfaces in contact, and the partsbeing stitched together in that condition. Thereafter the assembly is`turned or opened out so that the stitched marginal portions constitutea ridge at the inner side of the assembly. In order to reduce so ar aspracticable the prominence of this ridge it is customary to press or rubthe back seam before the quarter assembly has been turned. Suchtreatment, however, frequently causes the back seam ridge tot be turnedover toward one side `or the other in such a manner as to make the seamcrooked, Moreover, in Working the quarter assembly over the last thereis also more or less A.tendency to deflect the ridge of the seam fromy.its desired erect position in a manner to intertere with the desiredstraight/ness or evenness of the seam.

Objects of the present invention are to insure against the occurrence ofthe above-mentioned undesirable conditions and to improve theconstruction and appearance of the back-seamed portions` of shoe uppers.

With this object in view the invention provides `a shoe quartercomprising two pieces having their rear marginal portions disposed withtheir outer surfaces in contact and united by back-seam stitches, and astrip of padding which is secured to theinner side oi each of saidmarginal portions. Asherein illustrated, each of the quarter piecescomprises an cuter layer of material Such as leather and an inner fabriclayer or socalled doubler piece and the strips of padding are secured inplace by means of the back-seam stitches which extend through thepadding strips aswell as through the outer quarter pieces and v thedoubler pieces. The quarter assembly may .also include a lining butusually, and as illustrated herein, the back-seam stitches do not extendthrough the lining. The padding strips are bound closely and tightlyagainst the opposite sides of the back-seam ridge produced by thestitching together` of the rear marginal portions of. the'quarterpieces, the stitches being so disposed `a`s to draw the soft material ofthe padding strips tightly into the angles betweenY the ridge (C1. Sli-57) and the adjacent inside surfaces of the quarter.

Thus the padding strips are enabled to support the ridge and to preventit from being turned over or deflected toward one side or the other byany seam rubbing or pressing operation to which it may be subjected forthe purpose of reducing the ridge before the assembly is turnedrightside out, After the quarter assembly has been turned right-side outand While it is being applied to and Worked over the last `the padding10 strips serve to support the back-seam ridge in its desired erectposition and thus to insure that the desired straightness and evennessof the back seam shall be maintained. Moreover, in the finished shoe thepadding strips serve to ll the spaces between the quarter pieces and thelining, or, if a counter stiffener is employed, between the `quarter andthe counter stiener in the im- `back seam.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawing, in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan View of a shoe quartershowing the improved construction of the back-seemed portion thereof;

Fig. 2"is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional View on au enlarged scale ci the back-seamedportions of a quarter assembly illustrating the operation of pressing orrubbing the back seam; and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional View of the parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2 asthey appear after a quarter lining has been secured thereto and the vparts have been turned right-side out and assembled, together with acounter stiffener, upon a last.

In the drawing, my improved construction is shown as embodied inaquarter assembly for a shoe upper comprising the pieces I0, Hl of atvvopart quarter, the pieces I2, l2 of a two-part quarter doubler, twopadding strips I4, I4, and a line of back-seam stitches I6 by means ofwhich the rear marginal portions of the quarter pieces and the doublerpieces are secured together and the padding strips are held `in place atopposite sides of the ridge of the back seam. In accordance with theusual practice in the making of two-part quarters, the quarter piecesIll, I0 which 55 to the exposed rear marginal surfaces of the doublerpieces I2, I2 before the doubler and quarter pieces are stitchedtogether and thereafter the back-seam stitching operation is performedso that the stitches I6, in addition to extending through and securingtogether the quarter pieces and the doubler pieces, extend also throughthe padding strips and firmly secure the latter in place along the rearmarginal portions of the doubler pieces. In cases where no doublerpieces are to be employed the padding strips I2, I2 will be laid alongthe rear marginal portions of the quarter pieces themselves and secureddirectly to the latter by the back-seam stitches. As illustrated, thepadding strips I4 consist of short lengths or strips of soft resilientmaterial, such as loosely spun cotton yarn, although other suitablecushioning or padding material may be employed. The stitching operationmay be performed by the use of any suitable sewing machine which willpreferably be provided with a gage suitably constructed and arranged toguide the work and to position the padding strips in the desiredrelation to the edges ofthe quarter pieces. At the completion of theback-seam stitching operation the parts will appear as shown in Figs. 1and 2.

In Fig. 3 the back-seamed portion of the quarter is shown as it appearsafter the stitchedtogether parts have been opened up more or lesspreparatory to the performance of a seam-pressing or rubbing operationbut before they have been turned right-side out preparatory to beingplaced upon a last. As clearly shown at I8 in Fig. 3, the back-seamstitching operation results in the forming of a ridge at the inner sideof the assembly. If, in accordance with a customary practice, theback-seamed portion of the quarter is to be pressed or rubbed for thepurpose of reducing the prominence of the ridge of. the back seam, thepadding strips I2, I2 will assist, during the rubbing or pressingoperation, to support the ridge of the back seam so as to prevent itfrom being turned over toward one side or the other in such a manner asto result in the formation of a crooked seam. Although the seam rubbingor pressing operation may be accomplished by other means, it isillustrated in Fig. 4 as being performed by means of a rubbing tool 26which operates upon the edges of the backseamed portions of the quarterassembly while the latter is being fed over a rotary work support 22 inthe operation of a machine such, for example, as that disclosed inUnited States Letters Patent No. 1,920,253, granted August 1, 1933, uponapplication of P. R. Glass.

After the back-seam ridge has been pressed as above described and aquarter lining 24 (Fig. 4) has been stitched to the upper margin of. thequarter, the quarter assembly is turned right-side out, a vamp (notshown) is stitched to the quarter to complete the formation of the shoeupper, a counter stifener 26 (Fig. 4) is interposed between the quarterdoubler and the quarter lining and the parts are assembled together withan insole upon a last 28, where, after the usual pullingover operationhas been performed, the upper is ready to be lasted. It will be noticedwith reference to Fig. 4 that the presence of the padding strips I4, I4substantially increases the width of the ridge of the back seam so thatthere is little if any tendency for the back-seam ridge to be distortedor turned over toward one side or the other by any strains to which itmay be subjected during the performance of the assembling, pulling-overand lasting operations. Consequently, the back seam will not becomeuneven but will be retained in its desired straight condition. Inaddition, the padding strips fill in the spaces between the quarter andthe quarter lining at opposite sides of the ridge of the back seam so asto impart a desired padded or upholstered effect to the exterior of. theupper in the immediate vicinity of the back seam. The use of the paddingstrips renders it practicable to employ quarter pieces cut from upperleather which is thinner than that usually employed and still to securethe desired appearance of thickness or plumpness of the upper at theback of the shoe. The back-seam stitches are cushioned by means of thepadding strips through which they extend so that they are less liable tobreak either during the stitching operation or later While the shoe isbeing worn. Moreover, the padding of the back seam, as herein described,renders unnecessary the customary operations of taping or staying theseam and saves the expense of such operations while being even moreeffective in providing for the desired strength, evenness andattractiveness of appearance of the back-seamed portions of the upper.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of. the United States is:

l. A shoe quarter comprising two pieces having their rear marginalportions disposed with their outer surfaces in contact and united bybackseam stitches, and padding strips of soft resilient material, saidstrips engaging the inner sides of `each of said marginal portions andbeing secured to said pieces by said stitches.

2. A shoe quarter comprising two pieces having their rear marginalportions disposed with their outer surfaces in contact and united byback-seam stitches, said portions forming a ridge extending heightwiseof the quarter at the inner side thereof, and strips of padding locatedin the angles between said ridge and the adjacent inside surfaces of thequarter and held in place by said stitches so as to support said ridge.

3. A shoe quarter comprising two pieces having inturned rear marginalportions disposed with their outer surfaces in contact, said portionsforming a ridge upon the inside of the quarter, a line of stitchesuniting said inturned marginal portions, and padding strips engaging thesides of said ridge and held by said line of stitches in positions tosupport the ridge.

4. A shoe quarter comprising two pieces having their rear marginalportions inturned and disposed with contacting outer surfaces forming aback seam, padding strips overlying the inner sides of said marginalportions, and a line of back-seam stitches uniting said marginalportions and holding said padding strips in place.

5. A shoe quarter comprising two pieces having their rear marginalportions inturned and secured together by back-seam stitches, saidinturned portions forming a ridge upon the inside of the quarter,padding strips of loosely spun cotstrips thereto, the material of saidpadding strips being drawn by said stitches into the angles between saidridge and the adjacent inside surfaces of the quarter so as to affordsupport of said ridge.

6. A quarter assembly for a shoe upper comprising two quarter pieces andtwo doubler pieces al1 having their rear marginal portions inturned, theinturned marginal portions of the quarter pieces being arranged incontact with one another and united by back-seam stitches which extendalso through the doubler pieces, and padding strips held by saidstitches against the inner sides of the inturned marginal portions andadjacent inside surface portions of said doubler pieces.

'7. A quarter assembly for a shoe upper comprising two quarter pieceshaving their rear marginal portions inturned and united by back-seamstitches to form a ridge at the inside of said assembly, and paddingstrips held by said stitches against the sides of said ridge and againstthe adjacent inside surfaces of said quarter pieces so as to supportsaid ridge in an upstanding position.

8. In a shoe, an upper comprising two quarter pieces having their rearmarginal portions inturned and disposed with contacting outer surfacesforming a back seam, a quarter lining, a counter stiffener interposedbetween said quarter pieces and said lining, padding strips of softresilient material filling the spaces between said quarter pieces andsaid counter stiiener in the immediate Vicinity of the back seam, and aline of back-seam stitches uniting said marginal portions of the quarterpieces and holding said strips in place.

9. In a shoe, two quarter pieces having inturned rear marginal portionsstitched together and forming a back-seam ridge, an inner upper memberbearing -against said back-seam ridge, and padding strips filling thespaces between said quarter pieces and said inner upper member atopposite sides of said ridge and held against said ridge by saidstitches.

PAUL H. DIXON.

